Comedy vs. Drama

[Tatakae!!Ramenman]

I thought Cell games did it very well. Satan was a good comic relief and later one he even had a touching little character arc helping to save the planet from Buu. What's not to like. It ain't like Namek/Freeza fight didn't ahve any comdeic interrupts

I completely agree with this. The cell games had little comedic moments with Mr Satan, but still managed to be, for me, the most intense the series ever got.

[Cipher]

I think Battle of Gods hit the right note with it. (spoilers ahead) The movie had light-heartedness and energy, and at the same time, not only had important moments towards the end (earth being destroyed and all) but also had... subtext!

Remember the speech about how humans were interesting and created cool things that were awesome (or something like that)? I found that kind of cool because Dragon Ball usually isn't explicit about things like that. But that's besides the point.

I mean, that's more like text, but yeah, it's a nice gesture.

Re: Cell arc's monotony:

I agree, and it's likely the reason the arc is among my least favorite portions of the series, though again, it's not way out of tone. There's also a brief era of the franchise where the "cool" factor really seemed to be at the fore; look at any of Toei's ways of merchandising the series around that point; lots of bad-ass poses from Goku, Trunks, Vegeta et all. I'm fine with that because 1) it thankfully passed (though it's continued to be an embraced mode for the series internationally for godawful reasons), but 2) because it also fits the silly "What would be fun now?" vibe of the series and is still totally about engaging with its shonen audience. Plus, again, as (melo)dramatic as Trunks' arc is, it's tongue is still half in cheek with the Terminator pastiche.

Still, though, not as successful, and as a counterpoint, I think the Saiyan and Freeza arcs do the best job of supplying sincere drama without drastically changing the series. They're part of an increasingly dire tone from the Piccolo arc on, and everyone dying in the Saiyan arc comes as a genuine shock; it's a huge shift in what it seemed like the series would allow for. But it would only work half as well without the comedic elements that came before, and continue to accompany it. Your mileage may obviously vary.

Goddamn, Cipher, I don't think I've ever met anyone whose general opinions on the franchise overlapped with mine so nearly perfectly.

tnx lets talk seriously about a kids' show

[Polyphase Avatron]

I prefer both at once.

I think Battle of Gods hit the right note with it. (spoilers ahead) The movie had light-heartedness and energy, and at the same time, not only had important moments towards the end (earth being destroyed and all) but also had... subtext!

Remember the speech about how humans were interesting and created cool things that were awesome (or something like that)? I found that kind of cool because Dragon Ball usually isn't explicit about things like that. But that's besides the point.

I like it when there's comedy (like in the Buu Saga), but also drama to go along at the same time. It's the same reason why I loved One Piece back when I used to watch it.

The Earth wasn't destroyed in Battle of Gods...

[fadeddreams5]

I notice a lot of people saying they want both. That's a given. Optimally, DB only works with both comedy and drama.

The question of this topic is if you had to choose more of one over the other, which would it be? Which is more important to you? Less comedy (not to say there's none) and more drama ala Cell saga, Saiyan saga, Frieza arc, History of Trunk, and Bardock special 1, or more comedy/gags with a decreased sense of helplessness/tension (not to say there's none) like the Buu saga, BoG and the 2008 OVA?

Things like BoG and the Buu saga feel a little polarizing to me. There are clear threats, but it's hard to take seriously because of how goofy everything is. Which, I guess, is the purpose--it's not meant to be taken seriously. Likewise, you cut out the drama in the Cell Games, and add in comedy, and it takes away from the experience here as well. The cuts to Mr. Satan's crew in the Cell Games were almost unbearable because I was so invested in the darker tone set by Gohan and Cell. Unlike the Buu saga, the Cell one does take itself seriously, along with several Toei specials/movies.

[StrawHatPatriot]

I prefer both at once.

I think Battle of Gods hit the right note with it. (spoilers ahead) The movie had light-heartedness and energy, and at the same time, not only had important moments towards the end (earth being destroyed and all) but also had... subtext!

Remember the speech about how humans were interesting and created cool things that were awesome (or something like that)? I found that kind of cool because Dragon Ball usually isn't explicit about things like that. But that's besides the point.

I like it when there's comedy (like in the Buu Saga), but also drama to go along at the same time. It's the same reason why I loved One Piece back when I used to watch it.

The Earth wasn't destroyed in Battle of Gods...

lol, I meant the issue of it being destroyed, not that it did get destroyed.

[Ex-Dubbie369]

I don't think anyone on this board has ever descibed my feelings on this topic better than Kunzait_83 has on multiple occasions.

Everyone here by now long well knows that the original series was never as “hardcore xtreme dood” as the dub and dub fandom made it out to be, but by the same token (and this has grown into a colossally HUGE sticking point for me with this series' fandom over the years) it was also never quite as 100% whimsically fluffy as later post-dub fans of the Japanese version (particularly a lot of folks here) have spent the better part of the last decade+ trying to convince people. The truth has always lay somewhere dead-center in between those two equally wrongheaded extremes.

[Zenkai]

I mean, I can't imagine having to sit through something that's just serious without any break. That would easily become exhausting and burdensome to watch

This is one of the reasons I never made in through Attack on Titan. It's way too serious to the point of being depressing to watch.

Dragon Ball and One Piece seem to get a good balance of serious and comedic.